Supporting Black-Owned Businesses in North Carolina

— Written By Courtney Hotchkiss
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Tourism Extension aims to support individuals, businesses, and organizations working in the tourism sector across North Carolina. One community we serve within this sector is the Black community. You can also help support them by using your purchasing power at their businesses. Whether it’s food and beverage, retail, accommodations, personal care services, or marketing and advertising services, you can find Black-owned businesses all over North Carolina and the nation.

Colorful welcome sign

Businesses around North Carolina are revving up to welcome visitors again. Consider shopping at a Black-owned business to show support with your purchasing power.

Platforms, such as the Green America Network, list several ways our purchases can help black business owners and reduce the racial wealth gap. Thankfully, North Carolina has many Black-owned businesses all over the state! Yet, many of these businesses are smaller operations with few employees and are likely struggling from additional challenges caused by the pandemic. Please respect everyone’s health and well-being by wearing a face mask, sanitizing your hands, and practicing social distancing.

Black Dollar is a website for finding retail and services owned or operated by members of the black community. It is a space for Black and non-Black entrepreneurs and consumers in North Carolina to connect and engage. This platform also enables these businesses to appear higher in online search engine results and can create opportunities for partnerships.

Screenshot from Black Dollar website

The Black Dollar website provides information on Black-owned and operated businesses in North Carolina.

Apps make it easy to search by types of retail and services or by location. North Carolina has over 800,000 businesses, but less than 25% are minority owned. A recent article from Refinery 29, a global media company celebrating all women, provides a list of websites and apps that support black-owned business. Examples include: the Black Nation app for retail, Official Black Wall Street for discovering businesses, and I Am Black Business.

Other ways you can support Black-owned and operated businesses is by buying gift cards for future use or making a donation (but be sure the money is going directly to the business or person). You can also write reviews, advertise on social media, and encourage friends and family to shop at Black-owned shops and service providers.

Tourism does not mean traveling far from home — you can also explore and have new experiences close to home. A quick download before you head out the door can provide a variety of new options, as well as more power to choose. Let us know your favorite black owned or operated businesses in North Carolina by posting to our Facebook and Twitter pages!

A special thank you to Hailey Post for offering her list of resources on this topic.